In ocean applications, is often useful to be able to predict spectral attenuation of light and visibility at different ocean depths. Satellite measurements can be used, however, are of limited use for predicting future values at different times of day and in different seasons.
Dynamic climatology models have been developed by the Naval Research Laboratory that provide daily surface estimates for a 365 day period of diffuse attenuation coefficient K(λ) extracted from seven years of imagery collected by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner. The composites were of limited use due spectral restriction to 8 bits, a limited regional coverage, and restriction to surface estimates only.